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The Latest is
Sexual Dysfunction in Men
Modern, couple-oriented treatment for male erectile dysfunction takes
the psychosocial aspects of sex into account, as well as focusing on the
purely physical aspects of the problem. The importance of this
bio-psychosocial approach, whether one looks at disorders of desire,
arousal or orgasm, is supported by intercultural comparisons, among
other data.
But erectile dysfunction can also arise as a consequence of a variety of
diseases and their treatments, such as depression or diabetes, or can
even be an early warning sign of serious physical illness such as heart
disease. Hence an interdisciplinary approach, drawing on both medical
and psychological techniques and insights, is essential.
In this week's Deutsches Ärzteblatt International, Urologist Dirk Rösing
and coauthors present an overview of current thinking and practice in
the area of male sexual dysfunction.
The authors use research on prostate cancer to underline the place of
one important new development in German sex therapy, a form of the
internationally familiar "couples" therapy called "syndiastic" therapy.
Questionnaire surveys to men with prostate cancer show that while the
importance of the genital aspects of sexuality decreased in importance
following radical surgery, the relationship and physical intimacy
remained as important as before. Erectile function is important.
"Syndiastic" sex therapy was introduced in Germany in 2004, and focused
for the first time explicitly on fundamental psychosocial needs, in a
wider way, rather than purely on sexual function itself. Derived from a
word Aristotle uses, meaning a disposition to "live in pairs" or
"belonging," this approach differs importantly from some other somatic
or psychological treatments which focus mainly on restoring sexual
function. Instead, it aims to broaden the understanding of sexuality,
extend the range of physical experience, and improve overall
satisfaction within the relationship.
Deutsches Aerzteblatt International (2009, December 29). Modernizing
the treatment of sexual dysfunction in men. ScienceDaily.
Champagne - Good in
Moderation
Champagne Is Good
for Your Heart, Study Suggests -- But Only in Moderation
Research from the
University of Reading suggests that two glasses of champagne a day may
be good for your heart and circulation. The researchers have found that
drinking champagne wine daily in moderate amounts causes improvements in
the way blood vessels function.
Champagne does this by increasing the
availability of nitric oxide, a vascular active molecule which controls
blood pressure. It is able to induce these effects because it contains
polyphenols, plant chemicals from the red grapes and white grapes used
in champagne production.
When you drink champagne, these polyphenols get absorbed into the
circulation where they are able to act on the vascular system.
Specifically, they appear to slow down the natural removal of nitric
oxide from our blood, meaning that it will have a longer time to act on
blood vessels and so improve the flow of blood around the body.
High nitric oxide levels in the blood, as a result of drinking
champagne, can have beneficial effects, because as well as increasing
blood flow, it may help to decrease both blood pressure and the
likelihood of blood clots forming. This could therefore reduce the risks
of suffering from cardiovascular disease and stroke, but more research
needs to be done to determine the long term effects of daily champagne
consumption.
Dr Jeremy Spencer, from the Department of Food and Nutritional Sciences
said: "Our research has shown that drinking around two glasses of
champagne can have beneficial effects on the way blood vessels function,
in a similar way to that observed with red wine. We always encourage a
responsible approach to alcohol consumption, but the fact that drinking
champagne has the potential to reduce the risks of suffering from
cardiovascular diseases such as heart disease and stroke, is very
exciting news."
University of Reading (2009, December 31). Champagne is good for your
heart, study suggests -- but only in moderation.
The
Latest on Pap Smears
The
Latest on Pap Smears
Just
as we hear that mammograms are no longer necessary
before age 50, we learn that the ACOG has changed
their guidelines for Pap Smear frequency and age at
first Pap. According to the New York Times, Pap
smears are unnecessary before age 21. Prior
guidelines suggested that first Pap Smears be
performed at age 21, unless sexually active when Pap
smears were recommended starting three years after
becoming sexually active. One reason for this change
is that having Pap smears earlier may lead to
difficulty maintaining a pregnancy later in life.
The recommendations also advise women over 30 only
need a Pap smear every three years when they have a
three year history of normal Pap smears.
Additionally, women who have had a hysterectomy for
a non-cancer reason can stop having Pap smears
altogether. Of course, this includes only women who
have had both their uterus and cervix removed --
women who have opted to keep their cervix during
hysterectomy will need to follow their doctor's
recommendation on future Pap smears. The sad fact is
that 15 million unnecessary Pap are performed
annually in the US on women who have had
hysterectomies that included removal of the cervix.
Another recommendation is for women between ages 65
to 70, who can stop having Pap smears if they have
had normal Pap smears for three consecutive years
and no abnormal Pap smears over the last ten years.
Low Libido in Women
Women all over the world
suffer from low libido at some point in their lives. While some women
claim that they can live without sex and without any thought of it,
there are others know they are suffering from a low libido. Lack of sex
drive (lack of libido) is common in women, but quite rare in men. Over
40 percent of the women over the age of 40 complain of lack of sex drive
(low libido) whereas men who suffer with sexual dysfunction are less
than 30 percent.
Many factors causes low libido. A certain woman may experience female
libido loss due to physical causes like anemia, which is common to
women. Anemia is caused by lack of iron supply in the body. Diseases
like diabetes are also one of the causes. Alcoholism and drug abuse may
also greatly affect the supply of libido in the body; Hormonal changes
may also contribute to the situation. Some women experience libido loss
after giving birth.
The following psychological factors like depression, stress,
work-related problems, anxiety causes female libido loss. Bad in the
past experiences may also contribute to low libido especially during
childhood like sexual abuse or rape, hang-ups, unsettled differences or
serious problems with your partner, or lack of privacy at home.
How can you solve the problem of low libido in women? Find out whether
your problem is psychological or physical is the most important thing to
get the right treatment for low sex drive. Different causes equates to
different treatments. If your low sex drive is caused by psychological
factors like communication problems, anger, a lack of trust, a lack of
connection, as well as a lack of intimacy with your partner, the
treatment you ought to seek may be counseling. Before you go to a
therapist, however, you can try to solve the problems on your own by
talking about it with your partner.
A healthy sex drive can be incurred by spending romantic time with your
partner, having sexual thoughts or seeing stimulating images leading to
arousal. If physical problems like drugs, low testosterone levels or
menopause are causes of low libido, the most basic cause is hormonal
imbalance.
Two approaches can be considered for balancing hormonal levels:
Lifestyle Changes, or Alternative Medicine and Drugs. You should always
start with the least risky approach like lifestyle change and only
resort to drugs only if necessary. There are many sexual enhancement
products on the market today which can be used to solve low libido
problems both male and female. These products come in varying forms,
requiring minimum effort with maximum results. There are topical gels
and creams, as well as tablets that are taken orally. Non-estrogenic
herbs for treating low sex drive, as seen in the second approach, are
considered to be the most effective solution.
Remember that getting menopause or aging doesn’t mean you’re sexual life
ends there. Often times, a long talk with your partner discussing things
like more foreplay (and we mean, help with the dishes, chores, etc...)
which may leave you more rested and able to thing about other things
that are important, like your sex life. Whatever the cause, a discussion
with your partner is necessary.
Eat Fish To Save Your Heart
Fish has
long been recognized as part of a healthy diet, and in recent decades
fish has also been associated with the prevention of heart disease. Now,
scientists believe it can help preserve heart function in patients who
are victims of heart failure. A new study in the Journal of Food Science
reports that moderate fish consumption can help reduce the risk of left
ventricular systolic dysfunction (LVSD) in patients who have suffered
heart failure.
Researchers from the University of Athens in Greece focused on
demographical, nutritional, lifestyle, and medical factors combined with
the risk of developing left ventricular dysfunction after nonfatal heart
failure. The study included nearly 1,000 patients who were hospitalized
following heart problems. At the end of the study, researchers noted
that eating fish one to two times per week was associated with a
considerable reduction in the odds of developing LVSD. However,
consuming more fish did not result in further protection.
"More research is necessary in this area, including the determination of
the type of fish consumed as well as the type of the cooking method
(boiling, baking, frying).
What types of fish are best? According to the Environmental Protection
Agency, avoid big fish since they tend to have higher levels of toxic
mercury that can cause permanent damage to the brain and kidneys. These
fish include swordfish, shark, king mackerel, and tilefish. Seafood
containing the least amounts of mercury are best and they include
salmon, shrimp, canned light tuna, and pollock.
Welcome to XLPharmacy Health Blog,
Monthly Newsletter and Health
Videos, a collection of up-to-date Monthly Health Articles, News, and
Health Videos. In each current months issue XLPharmacy Health
Blog / health news provides a wealth of up-to-date medical news and videos we hope
you find helpful and informational. At XLPharmacy we care about you
and your family and we believe that everyone should have fast and
reliable access to affordable high quality medications in order to
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health news is only part of what we do. Be sure to stay
up-to-date by reading and watching XLPharmacy's health blog, news,
and health videos so you don't miss a single issue, video or health news
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Health Blog and Health Articles will discuss everything from
Medicare to Social Security, Weight loss, Cancer to New Cancer
tests, Erectile Dysfunction and Medications like Viagra for Sexual
Health, Herpes, HIV, AIDS, Smoking, Women's Health, Mental Health
and so much more...
Featured
Article - Fighting the FLU - What Can You Do?
Good nutrition,
regular exercise and adequate, restful sleep play major roles in
preventing winter infections. And don't forget the importance of
healthy, normal bacteria in the colon. These bacteria (probiotics)
keep the immune system working at its peak and suppress many harmful
bacteria, yeast, and viruses.
Vitamin D3 is a very
important weapon in your cold-weather arsenal. Vitamin D3 has
bacteria, viruses, and fungi (Candida).
The following
supplements are also good additions to your viral-fighting arsenal:
• Mixed carotenoids
• Buffered vitamin C
• Mixed tocopherols
(high gamma-E)
• Zinc
• Selenium
• Multivitamin/mineral
• Magnesium citrate/malate
• Beta-1,3/1,6-glucan
• N-acetyl cysteine (NAC)
All antioxidants will
reduce the damage done by viruses, and there are many antioxidants
that will actually help prevent such damage.
If you're struck by a
virus despite your best efforts, a number of plant extracts have
been shown to have antiviral effects. They include:
• Elderberry
• Black currant
• Resveratrol
• Curcumin
• Quercetin
• White and green tea
• Grape seed extract
To stay healthy once
you are well again, you should also avoid:
• Sugar: especially
high fructose corn syrup (HFCS). High sugar intake suppresses
immunity and feeds bacteria as well as increases free-radical
generation.
Featured
Article - The HIV/ AIDS Story is Being Rewritten
The HIV/ AIDS Story is Being Rewritten
In
House of Numbers, an AIDS film like no
other, the HIV/AIDS story is being rewritten.
This is the first film to present the uncensored
POVs of virtually all the major players; in
their own settings, in their own words. It rocks
the foundation upon which all conventional
wisdom regarding HIV/AIDS is based. House of
Numbers could well be the opening volley in
a battle to bring sanity and clarity to an
epidemic gone awry.
Watch the trailer, read the
reviews,
from places like the Los Angeles Times, The
Kansas City Star, Frontline and many more. This
film has won many film festival awards in 2009.
As
I watched the trailers and read each of the
reviews, I moved on to watching the first
Audience Comment
Video Clips.
It
has made this staff writer think real hard on
HIV and visualize just how the powers and monopolies
of the major pharmaceutical companies
don't want that power or monopoly to be scrutinized or
questioned.
Professor Luc Montagnier, the man who was
awarded the Nobel Prize last year for
discovering what came to be known as HIV has a
great deal of things to say about the value of
Nutrition in HIV and how he feels about
the role of nutrition's in the progression or
elimination of the virus. His stance by far is
the most intriguing to me, and his opinions and
knowledge should not be downplayed.
The "House of Numbers" does make those
who think they know everything there is know
about HIV/AIDS think more
and begin to ask questions and it made me and
many others wonder if
there is a real
inkling that such questions might have validity.
To
quote one readers comment to the NY Times
critical review:
"The New York Times" had a chance to make a
statement much deeper and profound then to
simply call this documentary groundless. This
pathetic excuse for a critique is a shame that
far outweighs possible errors of judgment by
someone that's trying to make a positive change
in the world. I would expect this kind of review
from a much lesser news source. - E.S., Miami
Florida
Whether HIV has been isolated according to the
standards of classical virology - or, more
correctly, what those standards should be - is,
I believe, a subject worthy of debate. No one
has ever denied that too many people have
suffered serious health problems, and that far,
far too many people have died.
It is not "disrespectful to all who’ve died" to
question the HIV paradigm. There is a tremendous
amount of grief among HIV "dissidents". I
believe that in asking for better ways to define
health and treat illnesses, we honor those who
have died and create meaning out of these
terrible losses. We must not stop asking
questions!
The only sadness is "questioning the HIV
paradigm amounts to professional suicide for
doctors, big pharma, and researchers. And what
sort of progress have the HIV-based researchers
made? In 25 years, not one prediction made upon
the HIV hypothesis has come to pass. And to this
day, no one can explain how HIV destroys the
immune system. And the vaccine trial failures
have forced weary and thoroughly confused
scientists to admit that they need to go back to
the drawing board.
Those who watched this movie state that no one
could show the gentlemen in the movie (Brent
Leung) an image that was certainly HIV, no one
could assure him what test or set of tests were
truly definitive on whether anyone was truly
positive i.e. had ever harbored the virus, and
no one could explain why all who took the drugs
died sooner or later while so many of those who
didn't survived in good health.
Most astonishing of all, Luc Montagnier, the
discoverer of the virus who won the Nobel this
year for it assured him that a "healthy" immune
system could defeat the virus in a few weeks,
and that Africans given proper food and clean
water could do likewise with their immune
systems restored to health.
All I'm saying in this article is "it makes you
stop and think". House of Numbers received a
Golden Ace award at the Las Vegas International
film festival and several other film festivals
this year!
I
am closing this article with a comment from a
film reviewer who stops to criticize the lack of
interest by the NYT's film critique who totally
dismissed the reason to question anything except
possibly gravity...the important point in this
article, is we must leave the conversation open.
We must ask questions. We must never give
up hope in learning more...and finding answers
to the questions this movie only "asks".
Quoted from: AIDS
Victim Response to the New York Times Critical
Review:
I have many friends who gave up checking their numbers and taking cocktails years ago. The drugs did not agree with them, so they figured, "I'll die a natural AIDS death and accept my fate..." and then, they got better...and never looked back. Is this anecdotal? Yes. Does it mean HIV is harmless? No. Does it mean that it doesn't exist? No. But my research has shown that there is much variance surrounding these issues. And given the toxicity of the drugs, the social stigma, and the "death sentence"...and given we were promised a vaccine in the mid 1980s...and given there is no cure...what is wrong with revisiting some issues and facing the fact that AIDS remains a mystery?
This film is not dangerous. It is not going to make people run out and have animalistic sex and throw condoms into the ocean. Grow up, people. It's simply a series of interviews based on one man's journey into this complicated world of politics and science surrounding HIV/AIDS. Watch it. Question. Research. And determine your own opinion...– TheatreGuyZ , Portland, OR
I'm open to new views and considerations and I will be at the showing in January 2010.
You see, I too have someone very close to my
heart that is HIV +, and taking medications that
keep them so sick every day. Neither a
"denialist" nor an "advocate", I long for
answers, I long for a cure, I long to know more
and I truly believe that will not happen unless
we keep asking questions.
Featured
Article - Protein Identified That Turns Off HIV-Fighting T Cells
In HIV-infected patients
the body's immune system is unable to fight off the virus. A new study
to be published online on November 10th in the Journal of Experimental
Medicine shows that T cells in HIV-infected individuals express a
protein called TIM-3, which inactivates their virus killing capacity.
Blocking this protein, the study suggests, might one day help patients
to eliminate HIV as well as other chronic infections.
Large numbers of virus-fighting T cells can be found in the blood of
most chronically infected HIV patients. However these cells eventually
become exhausted and cannot function. To identify the cause of this
exhaustion, a team of researchers at the University of Toronto, lead by
Mario Ostrowski, compared blood from healthy individuals and HIV
patients. In the patients, TIM-3 was found on a large number of
HIV-specific T cells, and the number of TIM-3-positive cells increased
with the severity of infection.
Under normal circumstances, exposing T cells to bits of virus causes the
cells to replicate and produce virus-killing chemicals. Cells expressing
TIM-3, however, were unreactive and TIM-3 was to blame; disrupting its
signals restored the cells' virus-fighting functions. TIM-3 normally
gets expressed on T cells after they carry out their normal function,
perhaps as a way to turn the cells off and thus prevent excessive
inflammation. But during HIV infection, persistent TIM-3 expression may
help the virus avoid T cell attack.
Whether HIV infection itself induces or sustains TIM-3 is not known.
Still, blocking the protein might be a useful way to control virus that
persists despite antiretroviral therapy.
Rockefeller University Press (2008, November 13). Protein Identified
That Turns Off HIV-fighting T Cells. ScienceDaily. Retrieved December
30, 2009.
Electronic
Smoking kit
BLU
Current Month Story -
Migraine? How to Avoid Them!
Like so many
of today’s diseases, migraines are on the rise. And while we
still do not fully understand the process, we do know some
basics.
Two components of
migraines cause the most concern. The first is when blood vessels
leading to the head and brain constrict and go into spasm, producing
the aura seen with many migraines.
The second component
occurs when the arteries dilate, causing headaches. While this
produces the most painful symptom, the first component is the most
dangerous. In some people, the artery constricts so intensely that
it causes a stroke. Sometimes, migraines are caused by intracranial
aneurysms, so MRA studies are needed, just to make sure.
Use these tips to
control chronic migraine:
• Avoid all
excite-toxins. This is the most important rule, because research
indicates that this is the central cause of the problem and explains
why some anti-seizure medications work. This means avoid all MSG
(monosodium glutamate), aspartame, hydrolyzed protein, isolated
protein, protein drinks, soy products and soy proteins, Portabella
mushrooms, sodium or calcium caseinate, stock, broth and natural
flavoring. All of these are major triggers for migraine.
• Increase your
magnesium intake. It takes a long time for oral magnesium to raise
depleted brain levels to normal, as much as six months. Yet, relief
can begin within hours. Vegetables are high in magnesium, so
increase your vegetable intake. You can also take magnesium
supplements.
• Take Riboflavin.
Riboflavin reduces migraine attacks by protecting against
excitotoxicity.
• Anti-inflammatory
flavonoids. The best are curcumin, quercetin, hesperidin, feverfew
and nettle.
• DHA. This component
of fish oils also reduces inflammation and therefore reduces
migraine attacks.
Taking these proactive
steps will greatly reduce your risk of getting an infection.
The National Women’s
Health Information Center offers this list (causes of migraines):
Too much sleep, or
not enough shut-eye.
Missing meals.
Over-stimulated
senses, including noises that are too loud, scents that are too
strong, or lights that are too bright.
Hormonal changes.
Stress.
Changes in the
weather.
Drinking red wine
or changes in caffeine intake.
Aspartame, an
artificial sweetener.
Food additives such
as tyramine, monosodium glutamate (MSG) or nitrates.
Current Month Story -
Coffee, Tea or Decaf for Diabetes
Coffee, tea,
or decaf, no matter what your choice is, drinking any of
these beverages may reduce your risk of diabetes, according
to new research that involved hundreds of thousands of
people.
A study that began in 2005 concluded that people who drank
the most coffee were one-third less likely to develop
diabetes than those who drank the least. It was found that
for every additional cup of coffee a person drank each day,
a person's risk of diabetes was reduced by 7 percent. In the
six studies that looked at decaf coffee, the researchers
found, people who consumed more than three or four cups a
day were at 36 percent lower risk of diabetes. And in seven
studies that examined tea drinking and diabetes risk, people
who drank more than three or four cups daily were at 18
percent lower diabetes risk.
The fact that the effects were seen with decaf as well as
coffee and tea suggest that if the effects are real, they
aren't just due to caffeine, but may be related to other
substances found in these beverages, for example magnesium,
lignans (estrogen-like chemicals found in plants), or
chlorogenic acids, which are antioxidants that slow the
release of sugar into the blood after a meal.
Clinical trials are needed to investigate whether these
beverages do indeed help prevent diabetes, the researchers
say. If the benefits turn out to be real, they add, health
care providers might begin advising patients at risk for
diabetes not only to exercise and lose weight, but to drink
more tea and coffee, too.
Current Month Story -
Fight Depression - Know Your Omegas and Your
Supplements
Fighting Depression -
Know your Omegas
We have known for a long time that chronic stress and depression can
suppress immunity. The opposite is also true: The chronic activation
of the immune system and the resulting inflammation can trigger
major depression.
Long time ago, it was clear that depressed people had a high death
rate following a heart attack or stroke. It was also clear heart
attacks and strokes were more common among depressed people.
Scientists assumed the heart conditions were a result of depressed
people not taking care of themselves. That’s partly true, but
evidence now shows that the inflammation itself causes depression.
So, chronic inflammation due to overactive immune systems causes
both the depression and the physical illness. Other studies found
that even the perception of depression, without an official
diagnosis, also is associated with physical disease.
Fortunately, you can fight the inflammation that leads to depression
and disease. One of the major causes is a poor diet. We know that a
number of foods can dramatically increase inflammation. The worst
diet is one high in omega-6 fats, because it suppresses natural
immunity while it increases inflammation dramatically. Americans eat
50 times the amount of these harmful fats as needed for health.
Inflammation
"boosters" include:
• N-6 or omega-6 fats, including corn, safflower, sunflower, canola,
peanut and soybean oils
• high meat diets, which are high in iron and glutamate
• soybean products
• trans fats
Inflammation
"busters" include:
• omega-3 oils found in fish and flaxseed
• some white meats, including chicken and turkey
• a high intake of vegetables and some fruits
The
following supplements help reduce inflammation:
• curcumin
• quercetin
• hesperidin
• ferulic acid
• silymarin
• magnesium
• omega-3 (low EPA and high DHA)
• vitamin C
• N-acetyl–L cysteine (NAC)
• natural vitamin E (with high gammatocopherol)
Supplements can, in addition, protect your brain against the ravages
of excite-o-toxicity caused by an inflammatory diet and also
stimulate brain repair. They include:
So
stressed out you can't think straight? Guess what? That's not just a
figure of speech. Long-term stress damages the brain, impairing
everything from emotion and impulse control and analytical thinking.
A study done by the National Academy of Sciences revealed ways in
which this type of chronic-stress-induced brain damage can be not
only stopped but reversed.
Turns out that when we have chronic stress, the brain gets flooded
with an enzyme that effectively breaks down part of the structure
(something called the dendritic spines) of the neurons in the
prefrontal cortex.
So if we were to get rid of the enzyme either by medication or
natural stress reduction - the neurons would recuperate, right?
Likely.
At least in otherwise healthy individuals the research has shown.
They did show that some stress was good, as it helps us to focus,
but that focus comes with a cost, as it later makes it hard to shift
our attention to notice our surroundings, the big picture so they
say, aka the forest for the trees.
The prefrontal cortex is also the first to deteriorate. This happens
sometime in our 40s and 50s. Yet, as fragile as this area of the
brain is, it's also very resilient. If we can avoid brooding and
ruminating, let bygones be bygones - literally releasing our brains
from the grip of stress - the brain will repair itself.
In other words, just chill.
A New Use for White Wine -
Stain Buster?
A Microbiologist is
developing a new use for white wine--it is a very good cleaner of
stains! The alcohol in wine can efficiently remove countertop stains
and clean fruit, a property they hope will become the basis for a
new natural cleaner.
You've heard wine can improve your health, but it may also help
clean your kitchen counters. From grapes to wine to natural
disinfectant, microbiologists have found a new use for wine.
This Microbiologist teaches people what it takes to make great Vino.
He also knows there's more to wine than meets the eye. Putting the
alcohol and the acids together is the trick he states.
He estimates for every 100 gallons of drinkable wine, there's one
gallon that's undrinkable. It needs to be recycled, reused, or
otherwise it gets just dumped into our waste drain. So he set out to
make a natural cleaner with it. He found only white wine works --
red stains!
The wine acts as a disinfectant and kills salmonella, a common
food-borne bacterium, within a few seconds. He also says when you
are watching the scene through a microscope it is total carnage.
Wine is good for cleaning kitchen countertops and fruit. And the
Microbiologist is now waiting for a patent on his wine cleaner.
Until then you'll have two uses for that next bottle of chardonnay.
Note: If the wine cleaner makes it to grocery store shelves, it will
likely have salt added to it -- just like cooking wine -- so people
won't want to drink it.
BACKGROUND:
Wine is a natural antimicrobial, and dry white wines, such as
sauvignon blancs or chardonnays, work best because they don't leave
a stain or sticky residue.
ABOUT
ANTIMICROBIALS:
"Antimicrobial" is a word that describes both natural and man-made
substances, including antibiotics and disinfectants, that can kill
or slow down the growth of bacteria and viruses and other
microorganisms. Sometimes microorganisms can develop a resistance
over time to an antimicrobial substance, however, so that it no
longer stops microbes from growing. Naturally occurring alternatives
could help address this problem.
WHY IT WORKS:
We've all heard advice from seasoned travelers that it's often
better to drink the wine than the water in a foreign country. There
is some truth to the adage. Wine drinkers, for example, rarely
suffer from food poisoning, such as salmonella (the leading cause of
food poisoning). The wine's natural acids combine with its alcohol
content to kill bacteria. The OSU scientists discovered it also
kills bacteria on a kitchen counter, for example. As an added
benefit, using wine as an anti-microbial, or as a natural food
preservative, cuts down on the amount of chemicals in the
environment, and on the long and costly development process for
chemically based food preservatives.
2 medium onions, thinly
sliced
1 (15 ounce) can of Italian tomatoes,
drained and coarsely chopped
6 eggs, beaten
Salt and freshly-ground pepper, to taste
3 tablespoons freshly-grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup roughly chopped fresh basil
Heat the olive oil in a large, heavy skillet over moderate heat and
sauté the onions for 8 to 10 minutes, until golden but not brown. Add
the tomatoes and cook an additional 5 minutes, stirring frequently.
Combine the eggs, salt, pepper, Parmesan cheese, and basil in a mixing
bowl. Turn the heat down to the lowest setting and add the egg mixture
to the pan, stirring a little to combine the onions and tomatoes. Cook
uncovered for about 15 minutes, until the eggs have set and only the top
surface is still runny.
Place the skillet under a preheated broiler and cook for 1 or 2 minutes,
just until the eggs on the surface have set. Properly cooked, the
frittata should not be brown on the top or bottom.
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Feed back from our Readers
Thanks
for the article on the "House of Numbers" film review. It
sincerely has made me ponder many things, and I am in total
agreement with the stance, "we should never stop asking questions"!
-S.S., Orlando,
University of Reading suggests that two glasses of champagne a day may
be good for your heart and circulation. The researchers have found that
drinking champagne wine daily in moderate amounts causes improvements in
the way blood vessels function.
stains! The alcohol in wine can efficiently remove countertop stains
and clean fruit, a property they hope will become the basis for a
new natural cleaner. 
I have many friends who gave up checking their numbers and taking cocktails years ago. The drugs did not agree with them, so they figured, "I'll die a natural AIDS death and accept my fate..." and then, they got better...and never looked back. Is this anecdotal? Yes. Does it mean HIV is harmless? No. Does it mean that it doesn't exist? No. But my research has shown that there is much variance surrounding these issues. And given the toxicity of the drugs, the social stigma, and the "death sentence"...and given we were promised a vaccine in the mid 1980s...and given there is no cure...what is wrong with revisiting some issues and facing the fact that AIDS remains a mystery?
This film is not dangerous. It is not going to make people run out and have animalistic sex and throw condoms into the ocean. Grow up, people. It's simply a series of interviews based on one man's journey into this complicated world of politics and science surrounding HIV/AIDS. Watch it. Question. Research. And determine your own opinion...– TheatreGuyZ , Portland, OR
Read the rest of the reviews at New York Times Reviews and decide for yourself.
I'm open to new views and considerations and I will be at the showing in January 2010. You see, I too have someone very close to my heart that is HIV +, and taking medications that keep them so sick every day. Neither a "denialist" nor an "advocate", I long for answers, I long for a cure, I long to know more and I truly believe that will not happen unless we keep asking questions.
Blog Staff Writer - J.J.
HIV Related Links
Featured Article - Protein Identified That Turns Off HIV-Fighting T Cells
In HIV-infected patients the body's immune system is unable to fight off the virus. A new study to be published online on November 10th in the Journal of Experimental Medicine shows that T cells in HIV-infected individuals express a protein called TIM-3, which inactivates their virus killing capacity. Blocking this protein, the study suggests, might one day help patients to eliminate HIV as well as other chronic infections.
Large numbers of virus-fighting T cells can be found in the blood of most chronically infected HIV patients. However these cells eventually become exhausted and cannot function. To identify the cause of this exhaustion, a team of researchers at the University of Toronto, lead by Mario Ostrowski, compared blood from healthy individuals and HIV patients. In the patients, TIM-3 was found on a large number of HIV-specific T cells, and the number of TIM-3-positive cells increased with the severity of infection.
Under normal circumstances, exposing T cells to bits of virus causes the cells to replicate and produce virus-killing chemicals. Cells expressing TIM-3, however, were unreactive and TIM-3 was to blame; disrupting its signals restored the cells' virus-fighting functions. TIM-3 normally gets expressed on T cells after they carry out their normal function, perhaps as a way to turn the cells off and thus prevent excessive inflammation. But during HIV infection, persistent TIM-3 expression may help the virus avoid T cell attack.
Whether HIV infection itself induces or sustains TIM-3 is not known. Still, blocking the protein might be a useful way to control virus that persists despite antiretroviral therapy.
Rockefeller University Press (2008, November 13). Protein Identified That Turns Off HIV-fighting T Cells. ScienceDaily. Retrieved December 30, 2009.
BLU